First daughter of the Moon
notes on earthly delights and pleasures
Seven days in, of intentional creative expression and co-creating in a capsule of self-devotion and communal brainstorming. I feel like we tend to limit creative endeavors to doing things on our own, which for some people, that’s really right. And while I really do need both social activity and alone time, it’s almost impossible “to respond” to just myself; responding being an essential quality of how I navigate life. I need to speak to people, be around things, and at times be “on the ground” to really feel into my thoughts.
The entire concept of brainstorming is a very nurturing space to me because it’s here that I feel the literal storm of ideas and thoughts flowing or taking shape in my brain. Without the space to breathe, and to even see those ideas perceived through others, bounced back to me with a different take or validation, it’s almost impossible to fully process them.
I have no idea who said this, and I think it was a movie I watched, where the person asked, “Why do I write?” and her response was, “So I can know what I think about things.” If you know where that’s from, please share. But that statement is so real, and it’s why the closest thing I have to a morning routine involves journaling three pages (morning pages if you’re into The Artist’s Way) every day; and why offerings like the creativity challenge and our private WhatsApp group are so deeply invigorating for my creativity.
Joan Didion may very well be the inspiration for the movie I’m quoting, as she so often has been and always will be. I’m sure it will come to me after I hit publish.
"I don't know what I think until I write it down." — Joan Didion
On that note, I’m loving the way (substack) Notes are like mini journal entries of unfinished thoughts, workshopping ideas or styles of writing or tossing an idea into the cauldron and seeing if anything magical or interesting comes back up.
For reasons I’ll save for another time, it’s much more satisfying to share them here than it is on other social media. It’s less about the platform and more about the people and environment and what it’s making room for. Which to me is spaciousness. To experiment. To cry, laugh, connect, escape. I feel at ease being both serious and ridiculously unserious, which I appreciate.
Les Luxuries
In honor of Sunday's new moon in Taurus — and today, Moon Day — but mostly inspired by the most indulgent potato chip I was romanticizing today, I’m sharing a list of luxuries and pleasures that delight my earthly senses and Taurus moon sensualities and sensibilities.
Said Black Truffle chips. if I have a mental map of anything, it’s wherever these are sold.
Dark chocolate bars as a permanent fridge essential. Personally, I love Divine.
Daily Potions: Sex Dust, Mini Dew, Magnesi-om.
Goat milk soaps from the Farmers Market. I’m not one for body wash. What’s in all that anyway? I just want to luxuriate & lather my delicate skin with soap that comes with a postcard of the goats who helped make it.
Freshly squeezed cashew milk. Making my own nut milk in recent years is a never-ending gift. A joyful and deeply satisfying ritual that takes less than five minutes from start to finish. And the taste? Divine. Comment if you want my super simple and easily found anywhere recipe.
On the milk and luxury note: when I’m feeling especially wild, I’ll grab a bottle of Ronnybrook whole milk, which has been labeled the “Dom Perignon of Dairy,” and I wholeheartedly agree. Que Rico.
I realize this list is becoming very food-centric, but there is something that, while somewhat aligned with mindful or even intuitive eating practices, is also inherently sensual in savoring a bite of your favorite dark chocolate.
The simple act of savoring itself, in the context of positive psychology, allows your physical senses to deepen your experience and becomes its own kind of nourishment. When we savor these seemingly insignificant daily habits, whether it is making your morning cup of coffee or showering with your favorite soap, we not only amplify our positive emotions but also fill our reserves to help us navigate challenges, difficult times, and everyday stressors with more resilience and hopefulness.
So what does this even have to do with luxuries? A few years ago luxury held a very different meaning for me. It was a more surface-level take and it mirrored my perhaps surface - externally seeking - level of understanding. But that’s broadened. My lifestyle, environment, work, inner world have all changed, deepened, expanded and with that the meaning of daily luxuries and pleasures.
Taking a few minutes in the middle of the day to sit with my face to the sun or read a few pages of a book. Pure pleasure.
I’m ending with a return to the outer world. To beauty. And a story that perfectly suits my vibe for Taurus season.
But first, a small ode to the daily luxuries that root me in ritual and pleasure, the products I reach for again and again, like little anchors of self-care.
Cleanse Ceramic Slip Cleanser by Sunday Riley
Tone Acid Potion by Moon Juice
Hydrate Plump Jelly by Moon Juice
Does-it-all (my beloved) ZIIP by Melanie Simon
As I descend deeper and deeper into curiosities and Aquarius rising fascinations, I’m constantly drawn back to Goddess studies. The ways religions, spiritual ideologies, and mythologies overlap or intersect across time and interpretation are forever intriguing to me. So naturally, I want to write about it. I started to explore the goddesses most present in my life, Venus and Artemis being two in recent years. Yet there would be no talk of Venus or Aphrodite (or Persephone even) without first honoring Inanna/Ishtar.
Inanna is a complex figure. She embodies and honors emotional extremes and conflicting, all-encompassing qualities, transcending the constricts of the feminine/masculine binaries. I don’t know that any one written exploration can truly encompass her story, and I’m not even sure where I want to go first in my own writing, but this story I learned about in my research feels like a compelling starting point. I’m also taking a guess that, were she human and not Goddess, she would be a Leo Sun, Aries Rising, and Taurus Moon.
I’ll spare the full retelling of the many ancient hymns and stories that celebrate Inanna, and instead share one beautifully illustrated version here, along with this brilliant podcast episode. But first, I want to leave you with a glimpse into the spirit of those ancient texts, where Inanna, first daughter of the moon, goddess of love, war, fertility to name just a few in her vast domain, delights in her own reflection and praises the wonders of her own body.
In a modern retelling inspired by ancient hymns, Inanna is celebrated as radiant beneath the open sky, adorned with jewels and crowned in glory, her beauty shining like the morning star. She is flanked by lions, dazzling with gold and finery — and, perhaps most striking of all, she delights in the wonders of her own body. In one version, it is said, "When she leaned against the apple tree, her vulva was wondrous to behold. Rejoicing at her wondrous vulva, the young woman Inanna applauded herself." (Adapted from "Goddess Inanna," Maison Marlies, Marlies Dekkers.)
Feeling the richness of her own being, Inanna desired even more. More wisdom, more experience, more life, and set out to claim it. Because she damn well pleased.